Comparable Worth

For Grahall’s commentary on Comparable Worth please refer to our Book “Job Analysis for the 21st Century” which has a chapter on Job Analysis and Comparable Worth.

Job Analysis, Documentation “Description” and Evaluation and Comparable Worth

In choosing a job analysis, description and evaluation system and corresponding methods for cross-gender comparable worth analyses, the goal is to select one that provides for complete and accurate job analysis which can be transformed into unbiased job descriptions, differentiates among women’s jobs and men’s jobs, and measures all job elements that are pertinent to compensation, and expresses the desired strategic job hierarchy and the desired market attachment.

Developing instruments that describe men’s and women’s jobs that are not gender-biased and that differentiate across occupations is appropriate and necessary but not entirely sufficient for determining the comparable worth of jobs. The validity of any such “instrument(s)” must also be established. An instrument that is useful for personnel selection—e.g., determining the kinds of abilities that are needed for a particular job—may or may not be useful for setting wages.

Defining Compensable Factors

Grahall’s approach as described in this book has nine levels of detail for ten overall compensable factors, while generally in the same categories as most job analysis approaches the Grahall systems do develop more compensable factors that are both gender neutral and currently judged to be more important.

How Grahall’s Job Analysis System Helps Address Comparable Worth

Update and Choose a Complete Job Analysis System and Method – Without the right information for decision making about position and pay hierarchies any subsequent decisions will rest on a poor and even potentially rotten (discriminatory) foundation. In addition, without the correct methodology of applying that system the chances of deploying a non-discriminatory pay system is poor or unlikely. Make sure that all associated issues are evaluated.

Using the Job Analysis System to Conduct a Pay Equity Analysis – An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The effort to conduct a pay equity review and correct any differences in pay program levels and corresponding individual pay levels will more than likely allow the organization to avoid any of the significant damages that can be legally claimed under the legislation.

Summary

In our opinion it all goes back to the foundation of job analysis. Job descriptions alone are not sufficient to determine if two jobs are of comparable value. They are one step down the road from truly understanding a position and its requirements. The Grahall multi-tier job analysis system ensures that there is a full understanding of the positions requirements so any comparison for “comparable positions” is valid.